Chapter 7 Chapter VII

"Historical Records" records that Mencius (371 BC? 289? BC) was a native of Zou (now in southern Shandong Province).He learned Confucianism from a disciple of Confucius' grandson Zisi.At that time, Qi State (also in present-day Shandong Province) was a big country, and several generations of Qi kings were fond of academics.They established an academic center called "Jixia" near Ximen-Jimen, the capital of Qi.The scholars of Jixia "all order to be a doctor, to be the thoroughfare of Kaidi Kangzhuang, a grand house, to be respected and favored. To see the princes and guests of the world, and to say that they are all worthy of the world." ("Historical Records Biography of Mencius and Xunqing")

Mencius was once one of the famous scholars in Jixia.He also lobbied the princes of various countries, but they did not listen to his theory.In the end, he had no choice but to come back and write seven chapters of "Mencius" with his disciples.This book records Mencius' conversations with princes and disciples. "Mencius" was later promoted as one of the "Four Books", which have been the foundation of Confucian education for nearly a thousand years. Mencius represents the idealist wing of Confucianism, and the later Xunzi represents the realist wing of Confucianism.What it means to say this can be understood below.

We already know that Confucius talked a lot about "benevolence", and he also clearly distinguished the distinction between "righteousness" and "benefit".Everyone should do what he should do unconditionally and be what he should be, regardless of his own interests.In other words, he should "refer to others", which is essentially practicing "benevolence".But although Confucius said these principles, he did not explain why everyone should do this.Mencius tried to answer this question.In the process of answering, Mencius established the theory that human nature is inherently good.The theory of good nature has won Mencius a very high reputation.

Is human nature good or evil—that is, what is the nature of human nature? ——has always been one of the most heatedly debated issues in Chinese philosophy.According to Mencius, at that time, besides his own theory, there were three other theories about human nature.The first is to say that human nature is neither good nor evil.The second is to say that human nature can be both good and hateful (this seems to mean that there are two elements of good and evil in human nature), and the third is to say that some people’s human nature is good and some people’s human nature is evil (see "Mencius Gaozi superior").The person who held the first theory was Gao Zi, a philosopher who was at the same time as Mencius. The Mencius preserves several long debates between him and Mencius, so we know a little more about the first theory than about the other two.

When Mencius said that human nature is good, he did not mean that everyone is born as a Confucius or a sage.His theory has some similarities with one aspect of the second theory mentioned above, that is, it believes that there are all kinds of good elements in human nature.He does admit that there are also other elements, neither good nor evil in themselves, which, if not properly controlled, lead to evil.These ingredients, he believes, are the ingredients shared by humans and other animals.These elements represent the "animal" aspects of human life and should not, strictly speaking, be considered "human" parts.

Mencius put forward a large number of arguments to support the theory of sexual goodness. One argument is: "Everyone has the heart of not being able to bear others....Nowadays, when people first see a child about to fall into the well, they all have the heart to hide themselves....From this view In other words, without a heart of concealment, one is not a person; without a heart of shame, one is not a person; without a heart of humiliation, one is not a person; without a heart of right and wrong, one is not a person. The heart is the end of righteousness; the heart of courtesy is the end of etiquette; the heart of right and wrong is the end of wisdom. People have four ends of right and wrong, just as they have four bodies.  … Whoever has four ends in me knows that Everything expands and fills it. If the fire begins to burn, the spring begins to reach. If it can be filled, it will be enough to protect the world; if it is not filled, it will not be enough to serve parents." ("Mencius Gongsun Chou Shang")

All human beings have these "four ends" in their nature. If they are fully expanded, they will become the four "normal virtues", that is, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom that Confucianism emphasizes so much.If these virtues are not hindered by the external environment, they will naturally develop (i.e. expand) from within, just as seeds grow into trees by themselves, and buds grow into flowers by themselves.This is the fundamental point of the dispute between Mencius and Gaozi.Gaozi believed that there is nothing good or bad in human nature, so morality is something artificially added from the outside, which is the so-called "righteousness, outside".

There is a question here: why should a person let his "four ends".Instead of letting his lower instincts develop freely?Mencius' answer is that the reason why human beings are different from beasts is that they have these "four ends".Therefore, the "four ends" should be developed, because only through the development of the "four ends" can a person truly become a "human being".Mencius said: "The reason why human beings are different from beasts is that the ordinary people go away, and the gentlemen keep it." ("Mencius · Li Louxia") He answered this question that Confucius did not think of.

From this we can see the fundamental differences between Confucianism and Mohism.Mencius took "distance from Yang Mo" as his duty. He said: "The Yang family is for me, so there is no king. The Mo family loves both, so there is no father. If there is no father and no king, it is a beast. ... It is heresy to slander the people, It is also full of benevolence and righteousness." ("Mozi Knee Wen Gong Xia") Obviously, Yang Zhu's theory is against benevolence and righteousness, because the essence of benevolence and righteousness is altruism, while Yang Zhu's principle is self-interest.But Mozi's general love is also aimed at altruism, and he even has a higher tone than Confucianism in altruism.So why did Mencius mix Mozi and Yang Zhu together in his criticism?

The traditional answer to this question is that Mohism advocates that there is no difference in love, while Confucianism advocates that there is difference in love.In other words, when it comes to loving others, Mohism emphasizes equality, while Confucianism emphasizes difference. There is a passage in "Mozi" that illustrates this difference. A Wumazi said to Mozi: "I can't love both. I love Zou people and Yue people, I love Lu people and Zou people, and I love people from my hometown and Lu people." , love my family from the villagers, love me from my family, love me from my relatives." ("Mozi·Gengzhu")

Wumazi, who is a Confucian, actually said "love me and my family", which is probably an exaggeration in Mohist literature.This is obviously inconsistent with the filial piety emphasized by Confucianism.Except for this sentence, Wumazi's statement generally seems to be in line with the spirit of Confucianism.Because according to Confucianism, there should be differences in love. Talking about these differences, Mencius said: "When a gentleman cares about things, he loves them with kindness; when it comes to people, he is benevolent without being close to them. Being close to one's relatives is benevolent to the people, and benevolent to the people is to love things." ") When Mencius debated with Mo Zheyi, he asked him, "Do you believe that a person who kisses his brother's son is like kissing his neighbor's innocent son?" than love for a neighbor's son.According to Mencius, this is completely normal; what people should do is to spread this kind of love to more distant members of society. "Little children". ("Mencius · King Hui of Liang 1") This is what Mencius said "be good at pushing one's actions" (ibid.).This promotion is based on the principle of gradation of love. Loving family members, and by extension loving people other than family members, is to practice the "way of loyalty and forgiveness", which in turn is to practice "benevolence", which is advocated by Confucius.There is no coercion during this, because all human beings have a hidden heart in their nature and cannot bear to see others suffer.This is the "end of benevolence", and the development of this end will make people love others naturally.But it is also natural to love one's parents more than any other person in general, and there are degrees of love. This is the Confucian view.Mohism, on the other hand, insists that loving others should be equal to loving one's parents.Don’t worry about whether or not this will result in underestimating parents and favoring others. Anyway, at all costs, we must eliminate the Confucian differential love.This is exactly what Mencius had in mind when he criticized "the Mo family loves both, and there is no father". On the theory of love, the above-mentioned differences between Confucianism and Mohism were clearly pointed out by Mencius and many people after him.But beyond that, there is a more fundamental difference.That is, Confucianism believes that benevolence develops naturally from the inside of human nature; while Mohism believes that universal love is artificially added to people from the outside. It can also be said that Mozi also answered a question that Confucius did not think of, that is, why should people practice benevolence and righteousness?But his answer is based on utilitarianism.His emphasis on supernatural and political sanctions to force and induce people to practice universal love is also inconsistent with the Confucian principle of benevolence and righteousness.If we compare the quotes from "Mozi·Jianai" quoted in Chapter 5 with the quotes from "Mencius" on "Si Duan" in this chapter, we can clearly see the fundamental differences between the two schools. We have seen earlier that the Mohist theory of the origin of the state is also a utilitarian theory.Looking at the Confucian theory of the origin of the state now, it is different from it.Mencius said: "People have the way. If they are full of food and warm clothes, and live in seclusion without teaching, they are close to beasts. The sages worry about it. They make Qi a Situ and teach human relations: father and son have relatives, monarchs and ministers have righteousness, and husband and wife are different. , seniors and young are orderly, and friends are trustworthy." ("Mencius·Wen Gong 1") The reason why people are different from animals lies in human relations and the moral principles based on human relations.The country and society originate from human relations.According to Mohism, the state exists because it is useful; according to Confucianism, the state exists because it should exist.” Human beings can be fully realized and developed only in human relations, that is, the relationship between people.Mencius, like Aristotle, advocated that "man is a political animal" and that only in the state and society can these human relations be fully developed.A country is a moral organization, and the head of the country must be a moral leader.Therefore Confucian political philosophy holds that only a sage can be a true king.Mencius described this ideal as already existing in idealized antiquity.According to him, there was a time when the sage Yao was the Son of Heaven (said to have lived in the twenty-fourth century BC).When Yao was old, he chose a younger sage, Shun, and taught him how to be a king. After Yao's death, Shun became the son of heaven.Likewise, when Shun grew old, he chose a younger sage, Yu, as his successor.In this way the throne of the Son of Heaven was passed from sage to sage, and according to Mencius, it was done because it should be done. If the monarch does not have the moral conditions necessary for a sage monarch, the people have the moral right to revolution.In this case, even if the king is killed, it is not considered a crime of regicide.This is because, according to Mencius, if a monarch does not act according to the ideal way of a monarch, he is not a monarch morally. According to Confucius' theory of rectifying his name, he is just a "husband", as Mencius said · King Hui of Liang". Mencius also said: "The people are the most important, the community is second, and the monarch is the least." ("Mencius. Dedication") This thought of Mencius has been in Chinese history, and even in the recent Revolution of 1911 and the founding of the Republic of China had a huge impact. Western democratic ideas also played a role in the 1911 Revolution. Much bigger. If a sage is a king, his way of governance is called the way of kingship.According to Mencius and later Confucianism, there are two ways of governing.One is the way of "king", and the other is the way of "tyrant".They are completely different kinds.The rule of the sage king is through moral instruction and education; the rule of the overlord is through violence and coercion.The role of kingly way lies in virtue, and the role of domineering lies in force.On this point, Mencius said: "Those who pretend to be benevolent with force dominate. ... Those who practice benevolence with virtue are kings. ... Those who convince others with force are not subdued by their hearts, and power is not enough to support them. Those who subdue others with virtue are sincerely convinced by their heart." Also, like the seventy sons who served Confucius." ("Mencius Gongsun Chou 1") Later Chinese political philosophers have consistently insisted on the distinction between Wang and Ba.In modern political terms, democratic politics is kingly because it represents the free association of the people; while fascist politics is hegemonic because its rule is based on terror and violence. The kingly way of the holy king does everything for the welfare of the people, which means that his country must be built on a solid economic foundation.Since the issue of land is often overwhelming in China, it is natural that, according to Mencius, the most important economic foundation of the kingly way lies in the equal distribution of land.His ideal land system is the system known as "well field".According to this system, each square mile (a mile is about one-third of a mile) is divided into nine squares, each of which is one hundred mu.The central piece is called "public land", and the surrounding eight pieces are the private fields of eight families, one piece for each family.The eight families jointly planted public land and private land.The products from the public land are handed over to the government, and the products from the private land are kept by each family.The nine squares are arranged like a "well" character, so it is called the "well field system" ("Mencius·窵文公上"). Mencius further described this system, saying that each family will plant mulberry trees around the five-acre homestead in its private field, so that the elderly can wear silk thick.Each family also raises chickens and pigs, so that the elderly will have meat to eat.If this is achieved, everyone under the rule of the kingly way can "preserve life and send death without regret, which is the beginning of the kingly way" ("Mencius · King Hui of Liang"). This is only the "beginning" of the kingly way, because it is only the economic basis for the people to obtain a high degree of culture.It is also necessary to "teach the order carefully, with the righteousness of filial piety" in it, so that everyone can receive a certain amount of education and understand the principles of human relations. Only in this way can the kingly way be considered complete. Practicing this kind of kingly way is not something contrary to human nature, but is just the direct result of the sage king developing his own "compassionate heart".Mencius said: "Everyone has the heart of intolerance. The previous kings had the heart of intolerance, and now there is a government of intolerance." ("Mencius·Gongsun Chou") in Mencius's thinking. "Unbearable" and "compassion" are the same thing.We already know that, according to Confucianism, benevolence is nothing but the development of compassion; compassion can only be developed through the practical actions of love; That is to practice the way of loyalty and forgiveness.The kingly way is nothing but the result of the sage king's practice of loving others and practicing loyalty and forgiveness. According to Mencius, there is no mystery in the way of kingship, nor is it difficult. It is recorded in "Mencius King Hui of Liang".Once, King Xuan of Qi saw a cow being led to sacrifice. He "couldn't bear it, and he would die if he was innocent", so he ordered to replace it with a sheep.So Mencius said to King Xuan that this is an example of his "unbearable heart", as long as he can extend it to personnel affairs, he will be acting as a king.King Xuan said that he couldn't do it because he had the problem of good goods and lust.Mencius said that everyone loves goods and is lustful. If a king knows his own desires, he also knows the desires of all his people, and takes measures to satisfy these desires as much as possible. The result of doing so is nothing but the way of kingship. All that Mencius said to King Xuan was nothing else but "to promote what he does well", which is exactly the way to practice loyalty and forgiveness.Here we see how Mencius developed the thought of Confucius.When Confucius clarified the way of loyalty and forgiveness, it was limited to the application of personal self-cultivation, while Mencius extended its scope of application to the political aspect of governing the country.For Confucius, loyalty and forgiveness is only the way of "inner sage". After Mencius' expansion, loyalty and forgiveness has become the way of "outer king". Even in the sense of "inner sage", Mencius explained the concept of Tao more clearly than Confucius.Mencius said: "Those who do their best will know their nature. Knowing their nature, they will know the sky." ("Mencius. Dedicated Heart") The "heart" mentioned here is "the heart that cannot bear others", that is, "compassion heart of".Therefore, if we fully develop this mind, we will also know our nature.According to Mencius, our nature is "what heaven has given us" ("Mencius·Gaozi 1"), so when we know our nature, we also know heaven. According to Mencius and his school of Confucianism, the universe is essentially a moral universe.The moral principles of man are also the metaphysical principles of the universe, and human nature is an illustration of these principles.When Mencius and his schools talked about heaven, they were referring to this moral universe.understand this moral universe.It is what Mencius called "knowing heaven".If a person can know the sky, he is not only a citizen of the society, but also a citizen of the universe, which is what Mencius called "the people of heaven" ("Mencius·Jin Xin Shang").Mencius further distinguished between "human noble" and "heavenly noble".He said: "There are those who are noble, and there are those who are noble. Benevolence, righteousness, loyalty, benevolence and tirelessness are also the nobles of heaven. The nobles of the public are also the nobles of people." ("Mencius·Gaozi 1") The state that can only be achieved in the world of value, as for the lordship is a purely secular concept in the human world.A celestial citizen, just because he is a celestial citizen, only cares about the lord of heaven, not the lord of man. Mencius also said: "Everything is prepared for me. If you turn your back and be honest, there is nothing more joyful. If you act with resentment, there is no way to seek benevolence." ("Mencius·Jinxin") In other words, a person can One's sex is not only to know the sky, but also to be with the sky.Only when a person fully develops his inability to bear others can he have inner benevolence.To achieve benevolence, the best way is to practice loyalty and forgiveness.Through practicing loyalty and forgiveness, his ego and selfishness are gradually reduced.Once there is no reduction, he will feel that there is no difference between man and me, and there is no difference between man and heaven.That is to say, he has become one with the sky, that is, one with the universe.From this, I realized that "everything is prepared for me".From this sentence, we can see the mysticism in Mencius' philosophy, To better understand this mysticism, one has to look at Mencius's discussion of "awe-inspiring qi," in which Mencius describes his own spiritual development. "Mencius·Gongsun Chou 1" tells us that a disciple asked Mencius what his specialty was, and Mencius replied: "I know what is said, and I am good at cultivating my awe-inspiring spirit." The disciple asked what is the awe-inspiring spirit, and Mencius replied; It is Qi, it is big and strong, it is directly nourished and harmless, and it is stuffed between heaven and earth. It is Qi, and it matches righteousness and Tao; nothing is discouraged.” “Awe-inspiring Qi” is a term originally created by Mencius.Later, with the increasing influence of Mencius, this term was not uncommon, but it was only seen in the pre-Qin period.As for what it means, even Mencius admitted that it is "hard to say" (ibid.).But in this discussion, I first talked about two warriors and their methods of nourishing Qi.From this, I deduce that Mencius's "Qi" is also the Qi of "courage" and "morale".It is of the same nature as the courage and morale of a samurai.Of course, there are differences, that is, it is more described as "Haoran", and Haoran is a grand fashion.The qi cultivated by warriors is something related to people and people, so it is only a moral value.But awe-inspiring spirit is something related to man and the universe, so it is a super-moral value.It is the same human qi as the universe, so Mencius said it is "stuck between heaven and earth". There are two ways to cultivate awe-inspiring spirit.One aspect can be called "knowing".Tao is the way to improve the spiritual realm.On the other hand, Mencius called it "Jiyi", which means doing what a "citizen of heaven" should do in the universe.Combining these two aspects is what Mencius said "to match righteousness and Tao". If a person can "know" and "collect righteousness" for a long time, awe-inspiring aura will naturally arise.Even the slightest bit of reluctance can be bad.Just like what Mencius said: "There is nothing like the people of Song Dynasty. People of Song Dynasty had min whose seedlings did not grow and died. The light came back, and the man said: "Today I am sick, and I will help the seedlings to grow. His son rushed away. Look at it, and the seedlings will wither." (Ibid.) When a person grows a crop, he must cultivate it on the one hand, but on the other hand he must not "encourage it".Cultivating awe-inspiring spirit is just like planting crops. Of course, one has to do something, that is, to practice benevolence and righteousness.Although Mencius only talked about righteousness here, but not benevolence, there is actually no difference, because benevolence is the internal content, and its external manifestation is righteousness.If a person often does righteousness, the aura of grandeur will naturally emerge from his heart. Although this kind of arrogance sounds mysterious, according to Mencius, it can still be cultivated by everyone.This is because the awe-inspiring spirit is nothing but a fully developed human nature, and everyone's human nature is basically the same.Human nature is the same, just as everyone's body shape is the same.Mencius gave an example. He said that although a shoemaker does not know the actual size of the customer's feet when making shoes, he always makes shoes, not straw baskets ("Mencius·Gaozi 1").This is because human feet are all similar.The same is the case with human nature, the nature of the saint is the same as that of other people.So everyone can become a saint.As long as he develops his nature fully.As Mencius asserted: "Everyone can be Yao and Shun" ("Mencius·Gao Zi Xia").This is the educational theory of Mencius, and Confucianism has always adhered to this theory.